Source: AP/TBO
By GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press Writer
ATWATER, Calif. (AP) -- Beekeepers who are battling a mysterious ailment that led to the disappearance of millions of honeybees now fear the sting of imported Australian bees that they worry could outcompete their hives and might carry a deadly parasite unseen in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has allowed shipments of Australian bees to resume despite concerns by some of its own scientists.
Australia had been airfreighting the insects across the Pacific for four years to replace hives devastated by the perplexing colony collapse disorder. But six weeks ago the Australian government abruptly stopped the shipments, saying it could no longer be certain the country was free of a smaller, aggressive bee that has infested areas near the Great Barrier Reef, U.S. officials said.
Early this month, the USDA decided to permit the bee shipments to resume with some precautions, and the first planeloads arrived in San Francisco last Monday.
Beekeeper Ken Haff of Mandan, N.D., says he fears the foreign hives could kill off his apiary.
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